AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Did Lillian mention her ex-husband?”
He frowned and shook his head. “No.”
“I have no clue if he is involved or not, but from the little I know of him, he’s a real asshat. I wouldn’t put it past him to come here and destroy her property.”
“Does he live near here?”
“She told me that they used to live three hours away, but I don’t know if he stayed in that area or moved.”
“Do you know what his name is?”
I thought on that for a second, then snapped my fingers. “Yes, Wade. Wade Rouse. She mentioned his name in passing a couple of times.”
He pulled out his pen and jotted that down on the notes. “Great, I’ll add that to the report and see what I can find on him.”
We shook hands, and Booker left. I returned to the apartment and glanced around. Everything from inside the cabinets was spilled onto the floor. Pieces of dishes and shards of glass littered the kitchen, and Lilly was pacing back and forth in her tiny living room.
I went to her and put my hand on her arm. She turned her toward me and I pulled her right into my chest. She was stiff at first, but then she began to relax, and I felt the shivering in her body as she did. She had been holding herself so stiffly that she couldn’t shake, and now that she was relaxing, her body was reacting to the stress.
I kissed the top of her head. “I know it doesn’t make it any easier, but it’s just stuff.”
“I know,” she muttered into my chest.
“Do you think Wade had something to do with this?”
She didn’t respond right away and then sighed and pulled back. “I don’t want to think so, but—”
“But what?”
“But he did something like this once before when I told him I was going to do something.”
I stared at her as I processed that. “He gutted your house because you wanted to do something?”
“No, I wanted to go on a girl’s trip, and he didn’t like that idea. He came into my craft room and destroyed it.”
“What? Lilly, why didn’t you tell Booker?”
“How do you know I didn’t?” She stepped further back from me.
“Because I asked him if you mentioned him, he said no, so I gave him his name.”
Her eyes exploded open. “What? Why did you do that? You had no right!”
“Are you kidding me? Your husband mentally abuses you, divorces you, then comes here and breaks into your apartment and destroys your property, and you don’t want to do anything? What is it going to take before you do? Do we have to wait for him to kill you?”
“Wade would not do that, Zack.”
“Maybe not right now, but this guy’s got a few screws loose.”
She huffed and walked away, picking up two throw pillows and shoving the stuffing back into them before tossing them to the couch.
“Where is your broom?”
“Why?” She turned to me.
“Because I’m going to help you get this cleaned up.”
“No, Zack. I am quite capable of doing it myself.”
